The award was established in 1997 to preserve the memory of Zsoldos Péter, the most prominent Hungarian science fiction writer of the last century. It was reformed in 2020, and now it awards other speculative works also, not just science fiction.
BEST NOVEL – JURY AWARD
Rusvai Mónika: Kígyók országa (Country of Snakes) (GABO Könyvkiadó)
The award was established in 1997 to preserve the memory of Zsoldos Péter, the most prominent Hungarian science fiction writer of the last century. It was reformed in 2020, and now it awards other speculative works also, not just science fiction. Also in 2020, a new category was introduced to acknowledge the work of translators.
A professional jury will select the winners in each category. The award will be presented on April 20.
The award was established in 1997 to preserve the memory of Zsoldos Péter, the most prominent Hungarian science fiction writer of the last century. It was reformed in 2020, and now it awards other speculative works also, not just science fiction. Also in 2020, a new category was introduced to acknowledge the work of translators.
A professional jury selected the winners in each category. The works of Hungarian creators were judged by a jury of seven people: Vera Benczik, Péter H. Nagy, Orsolya Hegedűs, József Keserű, Péter Kristóf Makai, Réka Szilárd and Bogi Takács. From among the translated works, a three-member jury selected the best ones: József Lapis, Anna Nina Orosz and Zsófia O. Réti.
[Thanks to Bence Pintér for the story and title translations.]
The award was established in 1997 to preserve the memory of Zsoldos Péter, the most prominent Hungarian science fiction writer of the last century. It was reformed in 2020, and now it awards other speculative works also, not just science fiction. Also in 2020, a new category was introduced to acknowledge the work of translators.
A professional jury will select the winners in each category. The award will be presented on April 20.
The juried award was established in 1997 to preserve the memory of Zsoldos Péter, the most prominent Hungarian science fiction writer of the last century.
BEST NOVEL
Baráth Katalin: Afázia (Agave Könyvek)
In accomplished crime writer Katalin Baráth’s first science fiction novel after the destruction of Earth the Solar System is in a Cold War. The two sides are empires, one capitalist (Democracy), one communist (Network Empire), but both of them forgot to use language and communicate the way we do now. Instead, they use visual feeds.
Enter the Moyers, a tiny nation of formidable warriors descended from Hungarian survivors of the Earth’s destruction, who preserved their literature and spoken language… A language, which affects citizens of the two empires as a drug, so they are bound to subdue and use them against the other side.
As the two empires prepare for war, the Moyers have to navigate between them to protect their independence. They send a genetically manipulated asexual supersoldier, and a burned-out spy to retrieve a superweapon created by the Founding Father of their colony, before their enemies can find it.
Baráth’s work is a highly inventive novel, which is using the best classic sci-fi, cyberpunk and space opera tropes to explore and criticise Hungarian ideas about our place in the world.
BEST SHORT STORY
Juhász Viktor: Az Eigengrau (Az év magyar science fiction és fantasynovellái 2021, GABO Könyvkiadó)
“Az Eigengrau” is a maze-like story about labyrinths, set in a prison colony at the edge of the known world, where an authoritarian city-state sends its disgraced sorcerers. These once mighty servants of the state, who used to uphold the law, now trawl the still lethal, magically active battlefields for ancient weapons of war. The story focuses on one of the convicts – deprived of his shadow and his powers – and the state agent sent to fetch him, as their pursuit on the borderland leads to places where identity, topography and time is broken and blurred.
BEST TRANSLATION
William Gibson: Neuromancer (translated by Farkas Veronika, Agave Könyvek)
The award was established in 1997 to preserve the memory of Zsoldos Péter, the most prominent Hungarian science fiction writer of the last century. It was reformed in 2020, and now it awards other speculative works also, not just science fiction. Also in 2020, a new category was introduced to acknowledge the work of translators.
A professional jury will select the winners in each category. The award will be presented on April 20.
2022 FINALISTS
BEST NOVEL
Baráth Katalin: Afázia (Agave Könyvek)
László Zoltán: Mindig egyre több (GABO Könyvkiadó)
Sepsi László: Termotestek (Jelenkor)
BEST SHORT STORY
Erdei Lilla: Vadhús (Az év magyar science fiction és fantasynovellái 2021, GABO Könyvkiadó)
Füzesi Dóra: Amobász (Az év magyar science fiction és fantasynovellái 2021, GABO Könyvkiadó)
Juhász Viktor: Az Eigengrau (Az év magyar science fiction és fantasynovellái 2021, GABO Könyvkiadó)
Kleinheincz Csilla: Növényeknek mondotta el (Spekulatív Zóna)
Kiss Gabriella: Túlélok (Légszomj, GABO Könyvkiadó)
László Zoltán: Hullámsodrok (Az év magyar science fiction és fantasynovellái 2021, GABO Könyvkiadó)
Moskát Anita: Istenanyák (Prae magazin, 2020/4.)
BEST TRANSLATION
Margaret Atwood: Legvégül a szív [The Heart Goes Last] (translated by Csonka Ágnes, Jelenkor)
Octavia E. Butler: A magveto példázata [The Parable of the Sower](translated by Huszár András, Agave Könyvek)
William Gibson: Neuromancer (translated by Farkas Veronika, Agave Könyvek)
Editor’s note: WordPress does not support the Hungarian letter o with a double acute accent above itself, therefore, in the four instances where it should appear above, the character has been replaced with a Latin o.
By Bence Pintér: The 2020 and 2021 winners of theZsoldos Péter Award, Hungary’s oldest sci-fi award, were announced April 20.
The award was established in 1997 to preserve the memory of Zsoldos Péter, the most prominent Hungarian science fiction writer of the last century. It was presented at HungaroCon until 2015.
This is the first award ceremony since the award was renewed, and no longer managed by the Avana Association. (Avana has established its own award called the Monolith Award.) The 2020 announcement was postponed due to the pandemic.
The award jury is Vera Benczik, Péter H. Nagy, József Bitter, Kristóf Makai, István Szabó, Réka Szilárdi and Bogi Takács.
By Bence Pintér: The shortlist for this year’s Zsoldos Péter Award was published this week. (Last year’s shortlist was also announced few weeks ago). The Zsoldos Award is Hungary’s oldest sci-fi award, which went through a major reform last year. Formerly it was organized by fans at the Avana Association, but from 2020 the Zsoldos Estate appointed other organizers, there is a new jury (including Hugo Award-winner Bogi Takács!) and new rules – from now on it awards other speculative works also, not just science fiction.
This award has a history, it was established in 1997 to preserve the memory of Péter Zsoldos, the most prominent Hungarian science fiction writer of the last century, but it was always riddled with controversy, e.g. awarding books that were seen not worthy by the fandom as a whole, or the time when prominent contemporary Hungarian authors withdrew their nominations, but the organizers ignored this and declared one of said authors the winner.
Now everyone hopes that it is on course to become a serious award at last. The ceremony for the two years’ winners will be on 20th April – online or in person, depending on the COVID situation. (The former organizer Avana Association also started its own award this year, the Monolith Award.)
Regények / Novels
Juhász Roland (R. J. Hendon): Gyomláló (Fonix Astra)
R. F. Kuang: Sárkányköztársaság (The Dragon Republic, Translated by Ballai Mária; Agave Könyvek)
[Editor’s note: WordPress does not support the Hungarian letter o with a double acute accent above itself, therefore, in the two instances where it should appear above, the character has been replaced with a Latin o.]